editor
Kenya’s central bank bought dollars on the foreign exchange market on Thursday to curb volatility, traders said, as the shilling rocketed to its strongest level since June 2023.
The central bank says it only intervenes to smooth out volatility when the shilling is moving too fast in either direction and that it has no preferred level for the currency.
At one point on Thursday the shilling was up almost 8% on the day, bid as strong as 139.00 to the U.S. dollar, LSEG data showed, in a rally fuelled by foreign inflows into Kenyan domestic debt and the resolution of a $2 billion Eurobond maturing in June.
This week, Kenya sold a new $1.5 billion Eurobond maturing in 2031 which it will use to buy back via a tender offer a large chunk of the $2 billion bond due in June.
